If you want to improve student achievement, you have to invest in schools. Seems like a simple premise, but Kansas has been testing out the opposite idea: If you starve schools, they suppose, good things will happen. At least that’s what their policy choices in recent years seem to indicate. Now, however, there’s an analysis […]

From a teacher in Arizona: Whispering Winds Academy teacher Elisabeth Milich posted a photo of her salary on Facebook. Her salary is $35,490 per year. She works for the Paradise Valley Unified School District. Milich posted the photo after seeing her expected pay raise for taking professional-development courses. “This is my new pay after taking […]

Jeff Bryant by way of People’s Action tells the story of growing resistance among educators: In defiance of state laws making public employee strikes illegal, nearly 20,000 teachers and about 13,000 school service personnel in all 55 counties of the Mountain State shut down schools for nine days. School boards and administrators across the state expressed […]

As Governor Matt Bevin and legislators consider plans to drastically reduce benefits, teachers consider options to resist, including a statewide strike. More from the Associated Press: Teachers have called lawmakers and packed legislative committee rooms to show their opposition. But Thursday was the first organized protest at public schools in front of parents and students. […]

Educator and blogger Ezra Howard offers some insight into what the West Virginia strike means for educators and public education across the country. Howard notes: After nine straight days of striking and protests at the state capital, the teachers in West Virginia got exactly what they wanted. On Tuesday afternoon, the very time I sat […]

Even as West Virginia teachers claim victory in the 9-day strike that shut down every school district in the state and resulted in unanimous passage of a 5 percent pay raise, the challenges of teaching in the state remain. Dana Goldstein offers this insight in a piece in the New York Times: West Virginia has […]

After a 9 day strike in West Virginia led to a 5% pay raise and a commitment on health insurance, teachers in Oklahoma may be on the verge of a statewide strike. More from the Washington Post: School district administrators usually oppose teacher strikes. In Tulsa, however, public schools have been so strapped for cash […]

It took 9 days of closing every public school in the state, but teachers in West Virginia certainly got the attention of lawmakers and a deal was finally reached that improves pay immediately and works toward a solution on healthcare. Here’s more from Education Week: On the ninth school day of the statewide West Virginia […]

The teachers were still striking because the politicians weren’t listening: WV teachers will strike for eighth day after legislative impasse. CNN “West Virginia public school teachers will strike for an eighth day Monday because the state legislature didn’t meet their demand for higher pay and better benefits over the weekend. All 55 counties announced school closures for Monday. About […]

Despite a deal on salary reached between union leaders and West Virginia Governor Jim Justice that appeared to be enough to end a nearly week-long strike, teachers are still out of school asking for specifics on health insurance and more resources for their schools. Jacobin has more on this wildcat strike: So while the union […]